Aberration correction method based on double-helix point spread function

Abstract

Point spread function (PSF) engineering has met with lots of interest in various optical imaging techniques, including super-resolution microscopy, microparticle tracking, and extended depth-of-field microscopy. The intensity distributions of the modified PSFs often suffer from deteriorations caused by system aberrations, which greatly degrade the image contrast, resolution, or localization precision. We present an aberration correction method using a spiral-phase-based double-helix PSF as an aberration indicator, which is sensitive and quantitatively correlated to the spherical aberration, coma, and astigmatism. Superior to the routine iteration-based correction methods, the presented approach is iteration-free and the aberration coefficients can be directly calculated with the measured parameters, relieving the computing burden. The validity of the method is verified by both examining the intensity distribution of the conventional Gaussian PSF in three dimensions and observing muntjac skin fibroblast cells. This iteration-free correction method has a potential application in PSF engineering systems equipped with a spatial light modulator.

Image based aberration retrieval using helical point spread functions

“…The idea of using helical PSFs for aberration retrieval based on a through-focus measurement has been previously applied in Ref. [32]. The practicality of that approach is limited since it requires the acquisition of three subsequent image stacks (M > 30) and it is applicable only to point objects.…”

Point spread function engineering based on wavefront phase modulation

“…PSF is an important tool to measure the performance of optical systems. First, the aberration of the optical system is directly reflected in the PSF 1 . With the presence of adverse factors such as aberration and noise, the shape of the PSF is no longer standard and the energy is no longer concentrated.…”

Optimization of Spot Efficiency of Double-Helix Point Spread Function and Its Application in Intracellular Imaging

“…However, a problem is that the light intensity of doublehelix spots is not fully concentrated in the main lobes but partially scattered to the side lobes, which results in poor imaging quality [11]. Moreover, during the imaging process, the optical system inevitably has aberrations that blur the double-helix spot image and affect the positioning accuracy [12].…”